Overview

We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Daihatsu being a city car and the Hyundai representing micro car vehicle class. The first one has a Daihatsu-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 58hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 12-valves 59hp engine designed by Hyundai.

Safety

The fact that the Hyundai got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, isn't really an advantage, taken the poor 3-star rating it received. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. The first vehicle is a city car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the micro car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Korean car offers a considerable difference of 16% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Daihatsu does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Daihatsu with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Hyundai badge with 4.5 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Cuore as average reliability-wise, and Atos is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.5 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Daihatsu is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 145 kilometers per hour, 1km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 4.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (59 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 23% difference compared to the Korean car.

Verdict

Daihatsu appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Korean car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with Daihatsu being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Daihatsu. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.